The men began to fire. But it was difficult to sight on the quick-moving rats against the grayish-brown clearing. And almost immediately, the rats were joined by a dozen hermit crabs. They had an uncanny knack for moving when no one was watching them, darting forward, then freezing against the neutral background. They saw Eakins appear on the fringe of the jungle. "Lousy traitor," Cable said, raising his rifle. Sorensen slapped the muzzle of the rifle aside. "Don't do it." "But he's helping that bug!" "He can't help it," Sorensen said. "And he's not armed. Leave him alone." Eakins watched for a few moments, then melted back into the jungle. The attack by the rats and crabs swept across half of the cleared space. Then, as they came closer, the men were able to pick their targets with more accuracy. Nothing was able to get closer than twenty yards. And when Recetich shot down the bird of paradise, the attack began to falter. "You know," Drake said, "I think we're going to be all right." "Could be," said Sorensen. "I don't understand what the Quedak is trying to accomplish. He knows we can't be taken like this. I should think--" "Hey!" one of the men called out. "Our boat!" They turned and saw why the Quedak had ordered the attack. While it had occupied their attention, Drake's dog had swum out to the ketch and gnawed through the anchor line. Unattended, the ketch was drifting before the wind, moving toward the reef. They saw it bump gently, then harder. In a moment it was heeled hard over, stuck in the coral. There was a burst of static from the walkie-talkie. Sorensen held it up and heard the Quedak say, "The ketch isn't seriously damaged. It's simply immobilized." "The hell you say," Drake growled. "For all you know, it's got a hole punched right through it. How do you plan on getting off the island, Quedak? Or are you just going to stay here?" "I will leave at the proper time," the Quedak said. "I want to make sure that we all leave together." V The wind died. Huge gray thunderheads piled up in the sky to the southeast, their tops lost in the upper atmosphere, their black anvil bottoms pressing the hot still air upon the island. The sun had lost its fiery glare. Cherry-red, it slid listlessly toward the flat sea. High overhead, a single bird of paradise circled, just out of rifle range. It had gone up ten minutes after Recetich had shot the first one down. Monty Byrnes stood on the edge of the cleared area, his rifle ready. He had drawn the first guard shift. The rest of the men were eating a hasty dinner inside the copra shed. Sorensen and Drake were outside, looking over the situation. Drake said, "By nightfall we'll have to pull everybody back into the shed. Can't take a chance on being exposed to the Quedak in the dark." Sorensen nodded. He seemed to have aged ten years in a day's time. "In the morning," Drake said, "we'll be able to work something out We'll.... What's wrong, Bill?"